L’entrée de la ville close

 

On an early matin before sunrise lief ich in die ville close. La ville made a vide empty impression. No one around, on a pont avec centuries of history passing. C’était le cut before Sonnenaufgang.

The major pièce ici’s the Anker, aber quel ancre, resting à cet bridge since about 1970?  Merci à Jean-Michel Gloux pointing at an issue of Passerelle, Bulletin des amis de la musée de Pêche no.3, from 2003 : le mystère de l’ancre de la ville close est levée. An anglais maritime historian, Duncan Nicholson, assoziiert ihn mit der Great Eastern, le plus grande navire du monde in 1858, later transformed into un câblier, poser le premier Tansatlantikkabel. A main evidence is the Trotman Anker mit seiner Lamellenstruktur (ancre à oreilles basculantes, fabriquée à l'aide des lamelles repliées, ce qui favorise la corrosion et explique l'état). Wir lesen im Sydney Morning Herald from 20. September 1860 dans le section Literary Gossip:

In 1853, a trial was instituted by the Admiralty, who appointed a committee of competent persons, to whom were joined an equal number of shipowners, and they, after an investigation of the merit of eight anchors, reported that Trotman's anchor was 28 per cent, better on all points of comparison than the Admiralty anchor… the Great Eastern sailed with Trotman's anchors, and  Trotman's alone. All the great line of steamers have it onboard their ships…

nur die Admiralität ignorierte diese  Anker. Going back to marine histoire, we lesen in Dan Rattiner’s exhaustive history of the Great Eastern (http://www.danshamptons.com/content/danspapers/issue30_2007/04.html) wie das Schiff 1862 am Leuchtturm von Montauk auf Grund lief. Die Passagiere wurden evakuiert, die Pumpen hielten das Schiff. As no dry dock for this size existed, the about 25 m Leck wurde unter einer Holzkonstruktion geflickt. Mais personne wanted it and enfin

the ship was now auctioned off to two men named Daniel Gooch and Cyrus Field for 25,000 pounds. They stripped it and offered it up as a charter boat for the laying of the Transatlantic Cable.

New excitement in 2007 when at Montauk a big anchor of 6720 pounds was trouvé.  On lit dans le East Hampton Star in November 10 Mysterious humongous anchor snagged big haul for dragger off Montauk point. Although linked to the S.S. Great Eastern it is definitely no Trotman, it is displayed in Montauk Lighthouse Museum.

Le lino est imprimé avec deux Platten pour ciel et l’eau, followed by a contour plaque. Alternatively the contour plate is aquarelliert :